A global cyber attack on Friday renewed concerns about whether the U.S. National security Agency and other countries’ intelligence services too often hoard software vulnerabilities for offensive purposes, rather than quickly alerting technology companies to such flaws.

Hacking tools believed to belong to the NSA that were leaked online last month appear to be the root cause a major cyber attack unfurling throughout Europe and beyond, security researchers said, stoking fears that the spy agency’s powerful cyber weapons had been stolen and repurposed by hackers with nefarious goals.

Some cyber security experts and privacy advocates said the massive attack reflected a flawed approach by the United States to dedicate more cyber resources to offense rather than defense, a practice they argued makes the internet less secure. Across the U.S. government, about 90 percent of all spending on cyber programs is dedicated to offensive efforts, including penetrating the computer systems of adversaries, listening to communications and developing the means to disable or degrade infrastructure, senior intelligence officials told Reuters in March.

Patrick Toomey, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.” These attacks underscore the fact that vulnerabilities will be exploited not just by our security agencies, but also by hackers and criminals around the world.

In a statement to NBC News, FedEx said tat “ like many other companies FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible.”The Memphis, Tennessee-based global delivery company did not immediately say whether a ransom was demanded for return of their computers’ functions.

Where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Microsoft released a patch to address the vulnerability in March and urged users to install it.

It was believed to the biggest attack of its kind ever recorded. No one expected to experience an attack on this scale.

"Spreading the rumors, it's very easy because the people who write about Apple want that story, and you can claim its credible because you spoke to someone at Apple." -- Investment guru Jim Cramer